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An Overview of the Immigration & Naturalization Service

The federal government agency known as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or USCIS is responsible for overseeing the lawful entry of legal immigrants to the United States. It is responsible for granting immigration and citizenship benefits while also maintaining the integrity of the immigration system

More than 200 USCIS offices are scattered throughout the world in an effort to achieve the goals of the agency. The USCIS website contains a wealth of information that is beneficial not only to those individuals looking to gain legal immigration status, but also to those who are in the process of attaining that goal as well as to those who currently have U.S. citizenship.

Services Provided by USCIS

Affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security, USCIS is responsible for a number of facets involved in legal immigration. A brief list of the services that this agency provides includes:

• Determine eligibility for U.S. citizenship, process naturalization applications, and schedule appointments for oath taking for newly approved applicants.
• Determine eligibility for U.S. citizenship for those individuals who derived it through their parents. Provision of legal documentation if U.S. citizenship is determined to be valid.
• Processing of family members who are being brought over by current U.S/ citizens and permanent residents to work while living in the United States.
• Processing of individuals who are looking for legal working status within the United States whether it is temporary status or through a green card, which grants permanent status.
• Completing the initial step in the adoption process for a United States citizen to adopt a child or children from another country.
• Managing the electronic system that allows employers to check on the employment eligibility of their new hires. This process is referred to as “e-Verify” and only participating employers have access to it.
• Providing educational information and important tools that assist individuals who are becoming legal citizens to assimilate into the American way of life.
• Assisting individuals who are searching for genealogical information.
• Providing special help and protection to those individuals from other countries who have need of assistance due to extreme famine, civil unrest, political unrest, or war.

Brief History of USCIS

The first Office of Superintendent of Immigration was created as part of the Federal Treasury Department in 1891. In 1895, this office became the Bureau of Immigration, which was then transferred over to the Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903. Three years later, it became known as the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization as part of Naturalization Services. In 1913, it was divided into two components- the Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Naturalization and was placed in the Department of Labor, but in 1933, these two components were reunited into the INS.

INS was dismantled and broken down into three components including USCIS in 2003. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, officially became responsible for all of the immigration service functions that the federal government oversaw through INS or the Immigration and Naturalization Service in March 2003. Created to improve the efficiency with which national immigration is handled, U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is designed to focus primarily on national immigration applications.

Summary: USCIS is the federal government agency that is responsible for many facets of legal immigration to the US. With more than 200 offices located worldwide and a virtual presence on the Web, USCIS is readily accessible to those who need it. It should be the first stop for those individuals looking to gain legal entry into the country.

To speak with an experienced immigration attorney, call 888-744-7750 today.